KENTON – Colton Mabry and Dominik Osborne could not be stopped on Friday night at Robinson Field as the duo accounted for over 400 yards on the ground and six scores in a 59-32 St. Marys win over Kenton.
St. Marys opened their scoring on the seventh play of the games opening drive thanks to Kevin Perry who turned a second down and six play into a score with a 25 yard sprint untouched for just his second touchdown of the season.
Trailing 7-0 on their opening possession and saddled with a five yard loss the Wildcats wasted no time drawing within a point on a sideline pass from Korbin Johnston to Grady Kleman-Beazley for a 79 yard score. Kenton’s two-point conversion attempt, a pass to Maddox Hommel made the score 8-7 in favor of the hosts with just :14 gone on the drive.
Working from their own 42 as part of a great night of field position to open their drives the Riders again raced down the field quickly, this time behind Colton Mabry on a 41-yard jaunt aided by a Jacob Kesler two-point conversion to take a 15-8 advantage.
Mabry struck three more times in the first half for the blue and gold as part of an over 200-yard first half as he scored on a six, 59, and 22 yard run to give him four in the opening two quarters.
Kenton cut the St. Marys lead to 22-16 with 51.2 remaining in the first quarter on a 69-yard score from Kleman-Beazely and a two-point run from Johnston. The Wildcats further trimmed the deficit to 28-24 in the middle of the second stanza on a 12-play drive covering 59 yards when Johnston raced in for his 10th rushing marker of the season and a Blaine Bushong two-point reception.
Quarterback Cody Wallace’s one yard plunge with 4:10 and a conversion by Osborne pm the ensuing drive helped give the Riders back their two score lead 36-24 before the final Mabry score in the half and another Osborne conversion.
Johnston, hampered by a hip injury during the week that made him a game time decision for this game ended a nine play drive to open the second half for Kenton with a 19-yard rush and a conversion to Bushong again to cut the lead to 44-32.
While the first half belonged to Mabry for the Roughriders the second half belonged to Osborne as the junior carried for a 38 and 27 yard touchdown run to put the final touches on the score and give St. Marys their eighth straight victory over the Wildcats and fourth straight at Robinson Field.
St. Marys finished the evening with 551 yards rushing on 65 attempts as a squad and were led by Mabry (20 rushes, 230 yards, 4 touchdowns), and Osborne (25 carries, 186 yards, 2 scores) who paced the rushing attack that produced eight scores on the ground behind a dominant offensive line.
Kenton (2-6, 2-5) was led through the air by Johnston’s 15/36 for 284 yard and two touchdown performance and 53 yards and a pair of scores on the ground. Wideout Grady Kleman-Beazley led the receiving attack with five receptions for 197 yards and a pair of scores for his third 100+ yard game of the season.
Next up for the Wildcats is a trip to 5-3 Van Wert next week in a must win contest for a playoff spot.
The Roughriders improve to 4-4 on the season and 4-3 in the Western Buckeye League play with their fourth straight win and will be in action at home for their final two regular season games of the season starting with 5-3 Elida next Friday.
“I thought our kids played extremely hard, we have tough kids. Our offensive line executed well and did their jobs. Defensively we made plays at opportune times, we’re getting better every week and that’s a testament to our kids and coaches. It’s a lot more fun to win” exclaimed St. Marys head coach Bo Frye.
Score by Quarters:
Kenton 16-8-8-0
St. Marys 22-22-0-15
Total Yards:
Kenton 327 (284 pass/43 rush)
St. Marys 558 (551 rush/7 pass)
Penalties:
Kenton 8/50 yards
St. Marys 10/100 yards
First Downs:
Kenton 13
St. Marys 25